Fred "The Hammer" Williamson | The 86 year old action star talks football, blaxploitation, and working in Europe

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"THE HAMMER" AKA FRED WILLIAMSON​

The 86 year old action star talks football, blaxploitation and working in Europe​


Nelson George
Dec 05, 2024


As a child of the ‘70s in New York, so many Saturdays were spend taking the subway from Brooklyn to Times Square to see kung fu flicks, Westerns and gangster movies. If it had action me and my friends were there. To our delight black actions movies became a hot genre. Labeled “blaxploitation,” these films created a slew of action stars like Richard Roundtree, Jim Brown, Jim Kelly, Pam Grier and Fred “the Hammer” Williamson, a cocky ex-NFL player with a taste for cigars and fancy clothes.
His journey to movie stardom involved bold moves, I-don’t-give-a-damn confidence, and an understanding of business that has sustained a still active career. When the black action movie boom ended in the mid-70s, Williamson shifted to Europe, basing himself for many years in Rome, and producing, writing and directing. In the glory years of direct to video and on demand, Williamson made a steady stem of flicks based around a simple formula: 1- I don’t die on screen. 2- I don’t lose fights on screen.
Back when I was a college intern at the NY Amsterdam News in the late ‘70s I inteviewed “the Hammer” at midtown hotel. It was one of those moments when your idolescent fantasy comes true. He was already urging black filmmakers to learn how to finance their films and not go asking Hollywood for a job. Fifty years later when the Screen Actors Guild asked if I’d be interested in doing a career retrospective interview with the now eighty-six year old actor, I jumped at the opportunity. Most of the other action stars of that era have died and, for many, Williamson’s films are more camp than quality. But anyone who’s worked with Robert Altman and Jim Brown, trained with Bruce Lee, and had a movie idea stolen by Quentin Taratino has a wealth of wisdom and humor to share. This a very entertaining conversation about how to survive in the movie business and own yourself.
 
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